speaker john boehner is expected before cameras any moment now on a day where the house of representatives is expected to take a 50th, you heard that right, 50, 50th repeal vote on the affordable care act. with an eye locked on foreign affairs, the president hits the road. he'll go to connecticut this afternoon to press his domestic agenda and push for an increase in the minimum wage. we'll talk to the president's host today, connecticut's governor, dan malloy. and the voters have spoken. the lone star state offering a possible road map for 2014, so exactly what can we glean from tuesday's texas primary? good morning, i'm chris jansing. and we begin on capitol hill. this is just developing, moments ago, what you can only call a tense confrontation between the chairman of the house oversight committee, that's darryl issa the republican, and the ranking democratic elijah cummings. let me set the stage for you. there's this hearing about the irs.

lois lerner, who has pleaded the fifth in the past, former irs official, pleads the fifth again. issa dismisses the room and that led congressman cummings to say this. >> you cannot just have a one-sided investigation. there is absolutely something wrong with that. >> now the former irs official, as we said, lois lerner, has now taken the fifth twice, as issa questioned her about the scandal. there will be much more on this coming up later on in the program. but let's also get to what's going on with the situation in the ukraine, where it's moved from quick action to quiet diplomacy. it appears vladimir putin has calmed down, but he hasn't pulled back, and now president obama is weighing his options and setting the stage for the next step. secretary of state john kerry is leading the diplomacy from paris now, where he's getting ready to meet with his russian counterpart in the next hour. earlier he met with ukrainian foreign minister and british

foreign minister. back in washington, president obama is pushing that diplomatic off-ramp to russia, pull back troops, instead let international monitors make sure ethnic russians are okay. the president spent nearly an hour yesterday talking to the key european player in all of this, german chancellor angela merkel, and he told democrats at a fundraising dinner last night, "we may be able to deescalate over the next days and weeks, but it's a serious situation and we're spending a lot of time on it." at a budget event yesterday, he struck a similar tone. >> president putin is pausing for a moment and reflecting on what's happened. there is a strong belief that russia's action is violating international law. i know president putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations, but i don't think that's fooling anybody. >> i want to bring in former u.s. ambassador to russia and msnbc analyst michael mcfull.

good to see you, mr. mooambassa. >> good morning. >> i want to start with the meeting between secretary kerry and the russian counterpart, sergey lavrov. we also had the phone call the president had with angela merkel, but let me start with kerry and lavrov. what do they say to each other? what's critical right now? >> first of all, the fact they are meeting is a good sign. they have developed a cordial relationship. i've been in many meetings with them and the fact they are talking leads open the possibility of this off-ramp that you mentioned and that the president and the administration is trying to provide for putin. i don't think there will be any break ththroughs today, i think it's early for that, but you will hear about the consequences, economic consequences of continuing this and foreign minister lavrov, just the justification for it

all. resolution will come later in this crisis. if it comes at all. >> meantime, simultaneously, you have secretary kerry talking to a lot, frankly, of foreign counterparts. here's some of the criticism that we've been hearing. this one from congressman mike rogers. >> right now, putin has set the table in the crimea for negotiations the way he would like them to go, and i think that puts us at a little bit disadvantage. you can't have the secretary announcing we're going to do sanctions, international community is going to support us in these sanctions and then have germany come out and say, no, we're really not for sanctions. >> is this the key problem right now, is trying to get all of our european counterparts and angela merkel in particular, on the same page? >> absolutely. it is the quiet diplomacy that needs to happen now. i think the good sign today coming out of europe is the news reports they are going to provide $15 billion in economic assistance to ukraine.

that is key, because if the ukrainian economy collapses, that invites all kinds of invitation for russian meddling in other parts of ukraine, but on sanctions, absolutely, it has to be a unified picture to go forward, and i know, i suspect, that my colleagues in the state department, in the white house right now, are trying to put that coalition together to provide a common front vis-a-vis russia. >> if you'll stand by, ambassador, i want to bring in ann garon, she has been traveling with secretary kerry. update us if you will, ann, about what's going on on the ground. >> so, in paris today, secretary kerry had a meeting this morning with the british foreign secretary and the acting ukrainian foreign minister, whom kerry brought with him from kiev in hopes that the ukrainian can meet with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov and with

other foreign ministers here today. that meeting hasn't yet taken place, but that was the hope, is that they could get the ukrainian and the russian foreign ministers in the same room at the same time and start to provide the diplomatic off-ramp that president obama and secretary kerry have been talking about for russia. that's a way for russia to diplomatically step back from crisis and to try to make the need for sanctions, obviate the need for sanctions. >> does it make it more difficult? i'm looking at this as purely people from the outside looking in, and we were talking to andrea mitchell about this yesterday, you have in the active ukrainian foreign minister somebody who just a few weeks ago was a protester. in some sense, you have key players in this scenario, who have a huge stake, don't have a lot of experience. how does that play into it, anne? >> well, it does play into it, and, of course, russia doesn't

recognize the acting government in ukraine, so from lavrov's perspective, the guy the united states wants him to meet today is not in any way his peer, so that is a problem. the problem, larger problem for the united states and its western allies, is trying to get the entire european union to speak with one voice, vis-a-vis sanctions, and to make sure that there's a real credible threat hanging over putin's head if he doesn't step back. >> while you have all these complexities, ambassadors, you have russian troops that are still in crimea, and i guess a key question is, are we content to stop vladimir putin where he is now, or is this about turning him back completely? >> i don't think the administration is content. i most certainly am not content to watch this. it would set a horrible precedent, and so the activities now are on getting those troops to go back to the barricades and allowing ukraine to be whole, independent, and free once

again. >> we've heard some criticism that putin has been outfoxing president obama, although the new york times editorial board writes this today, "leadership and credibility in a crisis mean reacting coolly and rationally, not rattling sabers or rushing into economic warfare that allies may or may not support or painting red lines that the other side can cross with impunity." exactly to your point. is this, then, the biggest test yet for president obama if you came into office and you ran on the idea that diplomacy can work and we need to push diplomacy further in situations like this? >> well, i think about it a little differently. i work for five years for president obama and i know the way he thinks about diplomacy, and i know, in my opinion, he rightly thinks that we're better off to have a diplomatic solution now than violence and further occupation of ukraine later followed up by sanctions.

the specter of sanctions right now gives us leverage. putting on sanctions after the conflict has happened, that means a long-term process in russia. so diplomacy now, whatever the probabilities of it, if it's only 10% that it can work, we still have to try to use that 10%, and then if it doesn't work, i have no doubt that the president and other european allies will try to make sure that it's costly for russia. but diplomacy is the focus today, most certainly. >> as somebody who has been in these meetings, does your gut tell you where that percentage might be right now? what do you think, ambassador? >> i think it's a low percentage, you know, if i'm predicting the future, i worry that russian troops will be in crimea for a long, long time in some kind of ambiguous sovereignty way, but as somebody who recently left the government, even if it's 10%, we have to make the best effort to make that happen, because, again, we're better off now to try to resolve the conflict than

to be in a sustained one with violence and with economic, you know, chaos inside ukraine, if this conflict should escalate. >> ambassador mike mcfaul, anne gearon, thanks to both of you. checking the news feed, one of the most interesting and consequential debate over the president's budget, big cuts for a leaner military. so right now defense secretary chuck hagel is testifying before the senate armed services committee, defending cuts to the army and the marines. hagel also told lawmakers, martin dempsey spoke with his russian counterpart today. he urged russia to show continued restraint in the days ahead to show a diplomatic solution. secretary jack lew answers questions on the president's 2015 spending plan. same-sex marriage supporters are riding a wave of momentum. according to a new "washington

post"/abc news poll, 50% believe the constitution's guarantee of equal protection gives gays the right to marry. this coincides with attorney general saying gay couples can apply for marriage licenses, even though same-sex marriage doesn't become legal in that state until june. in kentucky, democrats split on the issue. steven bashir said he is hiring outside attorneys to defend the state's same-sex marriage ban. coming up, president obama calling on governors to call for backup when it comes to raising the minimum wage. we'll be talking to connecticut's governor, dan malloy, who's hosting the president this afternoon. and did you catch harry reid going off on the koch brothers? >> what is un-american is when shadowed billionaires pour unlimited money into our democracy to rig the system. >> could outside money turn the senate red? that's coming up after the break.

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it's a really interesting polling number that's making people take notice today out of the new "washington post"/abc news poll, 50% of americans say they will be more likely to vote for a candidate for congress if they support increasing the minimum wage. that's more than federal health care or path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, by far. and it's, of course, central to democrats' 2014 agenda and when president obama heads to connecticut today to make his case for a $10.10 minimum wage, he'll have four governors there to back him up. joining me now is connecticut's governor, dan malloy, who will be welcoming the president about four hours from now. good to have you back to the program, governor, good morning. >> great to be with you, chris, exciting day.

>> you've done this. you've raised connecticut's minimum wage to $8.70 at this point. how's it working? >> on january 1st we raised the minimum wage by 45 cents. i have a proposal to do that twice more and 50 cents on january 1st 2017, so we'll be at $10.10. and put this in perspective, chris, that's only the equivalent of what the minimum wage was adjusted for inflation in 1968, so i want to be very clear, labor today is worth as least as much as it was in 1968 and if you think of productivity, probably more. >> the argument against it is, it's a job killer. 6.7%, in your state, it's 7.4%, republicans can look at that and say, you know where the biggest job growth is, it's in texas, and you raised your minimum wage, dan malloy, and you're above the national average. what do you say about businesses, about republicans, who say this is going to kill jobs? >> well, what i'd say is we were

above the national average because we had republican governors for 20 years, quite frankly, who didn't invest in infrastructure, didn't invest in education, didn't invest in the people of the state of connecticut, all of that which we're changing. in connecticut, we have about 70,000 to 90,000 people on a seasonally adjusted basis who are on the minimum wage. most of them are women, most of them are raising families, and they certainly need our help. we have to have a rising tide to raise all boats in this country, and the idea that people are working for less than the equivalent of 1968 makes no sense at all. republicans like to say the government's too big and provides too many services and pays too many things. okay, change it. make sure people have a decent amount of money to raise their family. let's not have people work 40 hours a week and live in poverty while trying to raise a family. it makes no sense. republicans are against just about everything. i know the president suggested an increase in the earned income

tax credit yesterday in their budget. they are going to pan that. they have no intention of helping the folks earning minimum wage in our country. you know what, republicans, they should tell the truth. they should tell america that they want people to work for 40 hours a week and still live in poverty. that's what republicans are in essence saying. >> well, your state, voters at least, are big supporters of this. the recent poll shows that 71%, overwhelming numbers, in general for the idea of raising the minimum wage. and when you get more specific to $10.10 an hour, it's still a pretty strong 62%. is that how, though, this is more likely to go, is it going to be state-to-state, or do you think there is real hope for a federal minimum wage hike to $10.10? >> well, there are states that lead on the minimum wage. connecticut is one of those, vermont is one of those, washington is one of those, washington state, washington, d.c., for that matter, is another location.

so i think states will lead, but i predict that the political pressure for republicans is going to be too great for them not to raise the minimum wage on a national basis. let's go back to what that is. we're talking in the low $7 range for minimum wage in this country. now, republicans had no problem supporting it when george bush wanted it, but they have a war against anything this president suggests, even when it helps their constituents. it makes no sense. >> widely assumed you're going to run for re-election, are you, and does this issue help you? >> you know, i've never hidden the fact i like the job. i haven't made a final decision with respect to re-elect. i'm just a believer in raising the minimum wage. i did it on january 1st, this past january 1st. we've done other things in our state, we created an earned income tax credit, which we never had, although democrats tried to bring to our state for 25 years. the only state that mandates paid sick days, so for every 40

hours a person works, you have to earn at least one hour of sick time to put in the bank. it makes sense, because we don't want sick people coming to work at day care centers, hospitals, or preparing your food. i think we've done really interesting things in the state of connecticut, and by the way, none has led to higher unemployment. our rate of unemployment has gone down fairly steadily, along with the national rate of unemployment. >> let me ask you quickly and finally, because when you and i have had conversations in the past they've been post-newtown and trying to get new gun controls laws passed. and we saw, for example, background checks, incredible 90% support, and yet that didn't happen. do polls like this, do what seem to be the overwhelming support of the american people, of people in your state necessarily translate to change? >> well, it did in our state. as you know, we have some of the most stringent gun laws in the

united states. i think on a national basis, americans overwhelmingly believe that if you have to have a license and have a background check to get a driver's license or if you have to have a background check to get on a plane, you should have a background check when you buy a weapon. that one thing, if we can get an agreement on that, we will make all americans safer today. we would stop millions of additional felons from buying guns. we would stop millions of folks who have a mental health challenge from buying guns. we would be safer if we had universal background checks. >> connecticut governor dan malloy, always good to have you on the program, governor. thank you. >> great to be with you. after the president leaves connecticut, he's going to head to boston to raise money for democrats who are up for re-election. minimum wage will be key in the midterms. i want to bring in msnbc.com senior editor beth fuey and manu raju. good morning to both of you. i want to pull up the poll again. 50% of americans more likely to

vote for a candidate for congress if they support increasing the minimum wage. you can see the comparisons on the federal health care law and a path to citizenship. beth, i mean, it looks like a slam dunk, but continuing the conversation i was just having with dan malloy, we don't always see public opinion polls translate to action in congress. how's this lock looking? >> in terms of congress, not going anywhere, but slam dunk for democrats in the midterms. a midterm election base of voters is different than the presidential race. democrats need more of the types of voters that came out and supported president obama. younger voters, people of color, women. that's largely the group of people affected by the minimum wage and want to see it increased. to bring down the more republican type of demographic, older, whiter voters who tend to support republicans, minimum wage is a good issue. >> so in those competitive races, manu, is that what we're

going to see, democrats talking about the minimum wage but staying away, for example, from the health care law? >> absolutely. there's a clear example of that in kentucky, alison grimes running against mitch mcconnell, doesn't want to talk about obamacare, but is working hard for the increase in the minimum wage. that's something senator mcconnell opposes, as well as in a place like north carolina. kay hagan has been under assault for her support for obamacare, really sees this as an opening to use against her republican opponents. nationally, it's interesting, chris, because in the last elections, democrats ran on the issue of raising taxes on the wealthy, but that's not really an issue on the table anymore. they've resolved the tax issue in the fiscal cliff deal, so they see this is their issue to drive a wedge on and really to run to try to cater to those middle class voters. >> other issue surrounding the midterms is campaign finance. obviously, i'm talking about the koch brothers. they are going to spend up to

$14.5 million on senate races and senate minority leader harry reid took them on yesterday. >> rather than having an honest and fair debate, they are pouring hundreds of millions into a massive campaign of deception. they manufacture stories. they make up facts. they are angry that i'm calling attention to their campaign of distortion and deceit. >> now the koch brothers did respond in a statement, i'm going to quote it, "we are disappointed that senator reid is attacking private citizens rather than the problems facing this nation. it is no wonder that americans have lost faith in congress." some fighting words from both sides, beth. how's this going to play out in the midterms? >> campaign finance is rarely an issue for voters when they go to the polls, but it's a way to raise the base and that's what democrats need in the midterms. the koch brothers, great candy, say the name and it makes a lot of democratic base voters angry, but let's face it, there are going to be wealthy democrats who are going to pour millions into races, as well, but saying the koch brothers, naming their

name is always very effective. >> we talked so much during the presidential campaign, obviously, manu, about the effect of outside money, but what's going to be the impact now in 2014? >> pretty significant. in north carolina, for instance, the koch brothers are spending probably the most out of any place else in the country and they've really helped change the dynamic in that race and put kay hagan on the defense of the democrat there. they are doing the same in michigan right now, really outspending democrats in virtually every major state. this could very much have a big impact on the elections, which is why democrats want to have this fight against the koch brothers, make this a fight about them, not necessarily the substance of the attacks they are raising on the air waves. >> manu raju from politico, petal fouey, thank you. >> thanks, chris. the tea party got trounced, we're going to break down the results of the primaries and talk about how these races could have national implications with our strategists. ♪

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follow the money and you'll have a good understanding of why countries are responding the way they are to vladimir putin right now. our european allies have been reluctant to drop the hammer on russia, so take a look at the key reason why. this is from the "new york times." 40% of europe's oil and gas is imported from russia. germany alone makes up nearly a quarter of russia's natural gas shipments, while other eastern and western european countries, it's almost 60%. helping us to follow the money is reuters investigative

reporter david rohde. good to see you and have you back. 80% of russian oil and gas exports travel through the pipelines that go through ukraine, so how is energy factoring in this equation? >> it's vital. we're being aggressive because we don't depend on russian energy, where as the germans, this is a big debate. maybe this is a positive thing that the russians depend on a trade with europe and why putin's backing off now, or does it make the europeans dependent on russia? >> it's fot really an option for russia to stop the exports. that would be self defeating economically. >> true, but we were talking earlier, on monday the russian stock market lost $70 billion, at the same time, vladimir putin spent $50 billion on the sochi olympics, so i think it's the economic costs making it pause now. >> at some point it's got to have enough of an impact on the russian economy that he's sitting up and taking notice.

>> yes, that's why the u.s. is pushing harder for economic sanctions. i think the economic issues make him pause. he's unlikely to push further into ukraine with his troops, but if he feels he's going to lose his warm water port in crimea, which this is all about, he will go to the mat, he will use more military force, so it's a tool, i think, economic leverage, but not an answer when it's sort of a key interest in putin's mind. he will lose whatever he needs to lose. >> energy, obviously, a key component, but there is a bigger issue of trade. the european/russian trade relationship is worth $460 billion, compared to just $40 billion with the united states, so, obviously, europe holds the key here if it's going to come to exerting pressure, some sort of economic pressure that might make a difference. >> yes, and to be honest, this is about the u.s. getting its house in order. we've offered $2 billion in loan guarantees, not $2 billion in cash. i asked a senior state department official and he said

we don't have the money. putin offered $15 billion to the ukraine with no strings attached, the europeans are offering a complex mix of loans also worth $15 billion, so we are not really economic players at this point, because we're such a mess in washington. >> which brings us back to angela merkel, germany in particular is one of russia's main trading exports, russia exports $50 billion to germany every year, but germany sends $38 billion worth of goods into russia every year, so it's hard to overstate the influence and the pressure, frankly, on angela merkel. >> yes, mercedes benz, they sell cars to russian oligarchs and equipment to the olympics. it's back to this dependence idea. this is also the u.s. and china, that the u.s. and china will never go to war because we depend on each other so much in trade. hopefully, that's true and this crisis will diffuse itself, but is there a long-term strategy

for dealing with putin, can we decrease europe's energy dependence on russia, i think that would be a wise policy move over the long term to undermine his leverage. >> something familiar to folks here, because we talked about that for a long time with the most and our dependence on foreign oil. you know, let me just ask you finally, because i think in this big picture of whether or not vladimir putin is going to back off and whether diplomacy can work, i was talking to a recent former ambassador mike mcfaul at the top of the program, he was not optimistic about diplomacy alone working. are you pessimistic about that? >> i'm pessimistic in terms of crimea. crimea is lost. those russian troops are, frankly, never going to leave. diplomacy has stopped a military move into other parts of ukraine and a potential war there, so that's a positive thing, but again, what is our long-term strategy towards vladimir putin, some policy makes are talking about exporting more american natural gas to europe to reduce

europe's dependency on russia. we don't want to go back to business as usual with putin. that's become clear on a variety of issues. we need a strategy. after the georgia crisis when this happened, we went back to business as usual. >> i never knew until much later that i guess the phrase from all the president's men, follow the money, maybe never was exactly said, but when you follow the money, you get a good idea why a lot of things happen in the world and you helped us to understand it. thanks, david, for coming in. i appreciate it. >> thank you. let's head back to capitol hill now. a lot going on there, i want to bring in jackie speier from california. house majority leader eric cantor said congress is going to move quickly to vote on sanctions. let me play that. >> the house will be discussing ways that we can help ukraine's government while putting significant pressure on russia to stop the flagrant aggression to its neighbor in ukraine. the world community should stand united against this invasion,

america should be leading and we'll vote soon on legislation to help aid the ukrainian people. >> what would you be supportive of, do you believe there needs to be stronger sanctions, congresswoman? >> well, first of all, yes, we absolutely need to provide immediate aid, both in terms of loans, loan guarantees, and grants so they can have open and democratic elections so that we can assist them in finding assets that may have been taken with ill-gotten money. in terms of sanctions, it's very important for us to appreciate that unless we have the e.u. with us, the 28 countries of the e.u., the u.s. imposing sanctions on russia is not going to do anything. it is not even one of our 15 top trading partners in the world. as you pointed out in an earlier segment, the e.u. does a great deal of trading with russia. most of the oil and gas comes from the russian exporters and

they do, in fact, import a lot of products from the e.u. so, we have to do it in conjunction with the e.u. if we're going to impose sanctions. >> but if that's not going to happen, for the reasons that we just stated, for example, the trade considerations, the energy considerations, is it worth voting on to make a statement to the world about where america stands on this? >> i think, you know, we've got to be honest with ourselves. we can vote that, it's not going to do anything. i mean, there's lots of ways that we can issue resolutions that express our disdain for the pugnacious nature of putin and the aggression that he has shown in the ukraine. but i think the fact that crimea is 60% ethnic russian, that there are six russian bases in crimea, speaks volumes of the nature of the relationship between russia and the crimea region. >> meantime, where you are on capitol hill, there was a bit of

drama. it happened less than an hour ago. i think you know what happened, but i'm going to bring everybody else up to speed. lois lerner, the former irs official, pleaded the fifth again. the committee chair, darrell issa, in this oversight committee hearing, dismissed the room without letting the ranking democrat, elijah cummings, ask his questions. cummings basically said, i want to have my say. later, both lawmakers took questions from reporters. here's darrell issa. >> mr. cummings said that he had questions to ask, instead he began making an opening statement, even after the committee had been adjourned, therefore, the committee stands adjourned. yes, sir? >> mr. chairman, how much of this is a political play for the republicans in the election? >> none, not a shred of it. >> all right, then just seconds ago, literally, this is what elijah cummings had to say. >> no, i have not. what we have done, and i applaud

my members of my committee, i'm very proud of them, they've come here seeking the truth. we really do -- and i've said this many times, it is very important for us to make sure that government operates properly and operates effectively and efficiently, and all of our members are determined to make that happen. >> what's your take, congresswoman, on what happened here? >> first of all, i think the chairman showed a great deal of immaturity. it's like a toddler in a sand lot throwing sand at others because he's not getting his way. he knew precisely that lois lerner was going to plead the fifth. she's pled the fifth before, she has every right under the constitution to plead the fifth. the problem is, this committee is one of the most important committees in the house. it is about oversight. i have spent my entire legislative career working on overlig oversight. we don't do oversight. we've had five hearings on benghazi, six or seven on the irs. there are big problems, we have

medicare and medicaid fraud, we have a department of defense with over $500 billion a year in funding that has never been audited. we have $2 billion in spare parts waste going on in the department of defense. i could go on with a litany. we don't address any of those issues. it is taking the republican playbook and hammering over and over again over the same two issues, benghazi and the affordable care act. and -- >> let me ask you about the affordable care act, because i know california has surpassed its obamacare enrollment goal, 800,000 people signed up so far. but they are having this 50th vote and they are saying, you know, why not delay this penalty on the individual mandate, why not, what's the issue here, what's your take on this 50th vote on obamacare? >> well, that's another example of how it's all about political messaging. it's not about fixing some of the elements of the affordable

care act. there are things we should fix with the affordable care act. i'm willing to look at postponing the imposition of the fine, it's $100. there are ways, frankly, that anyone who can show that they have hardship can, in fact, forego that particular fine in the first year, so lots of reasons to come together and work together in solutions, but that's not what this is about. this has become a campaign-driven congress, and it's disgusting to me. >> congresswoman jackie speier on a lot of topics, that suddenly turned into a busy day on capitol hill. thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. >> my pleasure. the president pinching pennies in his budget, nickels, too, mandy drury is here with what's moving your money. he's talking about phasing out both pennies and nickels. >> you're right, chris, it's part of the budget proposal. either phase out the penny and

nickel coins or use cheaper metals to produce them. the manufacturing of coins has not changed in decades, so in this fiscal 2015 budget proposal, there's not a specific cost savings figure that these proposed changes would bring, but we do know the cost from last year's budget, which put the cost of manufacturing a penny at two cents and a nickel at 11 cents. >> costs 11 cents to make a nickel. >> isn't that crazy? >> maybe they should make it out of something cheaper than nickel. >> that's the thing, they are looking at possibly using a cheaper metal and apparently there have been past attempts to make it more efficient and, obviously, cheaper, but it has faced resistance from various interest groups, such as the coin laundry association, which they say basically small business owner members would be hurt, so apparently not everyone is for this, which means it may not, again, get passed. >> real quickly, nickel and diming seems like very '50s

phrase, dollaring, united cracking down on carry-on luggage. >> not a new policy. it is really just a campaign to try and not only improve passenger awareness, but really speed up the boarding process. it wants to get tough on the passengers with the oversized carry-on bags, the people who hold us up at the boarding, either at the gate, sometimes even inside the plane, so united has installed new bag sizes that most of the airports and united employees will send you back to the ticket and check-in counter if your bag exceeds the dimensions for the carry-ons and you will pay the $25 fee. >> trouble for me. cnbc's mandy drury, thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. which rewards her for responsibly managing her card balance. before receiving $25 toward her balance each quarter for making more than her minimum payment on time each month. tracey got the bankamericard better balance rewards credit card,

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profile congressional races where the more moderate republican incumbent rolled against tea party challengers from the right. and the stage is now set for democrat wendy davis versus republican greg abbott for governor, and that's to say nothing of another winner with one of the most famous names in american politics. let's bring in aisha and chip saltsman. good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> let's start with the big name, big talker, george p. bush, son of jeb, winning the race for land commissioner, which is a big deal in texas. his grandfather tweeting last night, "we couldn't be prouder tonight, good man, hard worker. he'll do a great job if elected." chip, this, obviously, brings up the dynasty question and whether this is just the beginning for george p. bush. >> well, we hope so, and certainly his last name didn't hurt him last night in texas and he was smart in running for a down ballot ticket, important

office where he can make his political and policy chops and we expect great things in the future. >> do you have doubt this is just the start for him. >> no, but if his values reflect the values of his family, i'm afraid during the bush years, $600 billion was made by the oil industry and now that he's land commissioner down there, you know, i think he's not going to be doing a whole lot for the clean energy folks and that's going to be problematic for us. >> people are going to be watching that very closely. meantime, governors race set, texas, majority state, what do you think, aisha, is wendy davis a real threat here, though? >> i think wendy davis has a real shot. first of all, she's running against a guy hanging out with ted nugent. she needs to win 60% of women to have a shot and i think she can do that. >> that's been her issue, isn't it? chip, this is someone who came to national recognition when she

was on the floor in texas with her pink running shoes and was really fighting for women's reproductive rights. >> yeah, she had to be running perfect campaign to have a slim chance to beat greg abbott. she's run a terrible campaign so far. greg abbott is going to be the next governor of texas. she's raised a lot of money, but in texas, not so much. she's going to get beat and she's going to get beat big. >> senator john cornyn meantime, r59% to 19%. congressman pete sessions beat back his tea party challenge. chip, what do those results tell you? >> pretty simple. when you run against an incumbe incumbent, you have have to an issue. at the end of the day, john cornyn and pete sessions have done a great job for the state of texas and their district. >> aisha, was this less about bad news for the tea party and more about the realities of running against an incumbent? >> i think it's both. i think the tea party has to be

for something as opposed to against everything and we saw that play out in those primaries. >> one tea party candidate that had a good night, state senator dan patrick, who forced the state's republican lieutenant governor david dewherst into a runoff. what do you think about that? >> yeah, i think that's exactly what that is, ted cruz really hurt his reputation pretty bad and positioned him as a moderate, and i think we see those chickens come home to roost now and that's exactly what that was. >> other campaigns elsewhere across the nation, chip, are looking at texas, what's your takeaway? >> well, i think one thing, texas is an independent state, think different than the rest of the country, but they elected strong, good conservatives in these races that are probably going to win across the board in november. >> chip saltsman, aisha moody mills, thanks to both of you, we'll be right back.

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to politics now, and president obama, are you feeling okay? white house photographer pete suhsa tweeted out this photo. this is a student on tuesday using a stethoscope on the president. so cute. maybe between posturing over putin and today's 50th vote to repeal health care, this cute little kid said maybe his heart rate was up a little bit, right? that's going to wrap up this hour of "jansing and co." i'm chris jansing. "news nation" with tamron hall is up next and i'll see you back here tomorrow. to manage your money. that's not much, you think except it's 2 percent every year. does that make a difference? search "cost of financial advisors" ouch! over time it really adds up. then go to e*trade and find out how much our advice costs. spoiler alert. it's low. really? yes, really. e*trade offers investment advice and guidance from dedicated professional financial consultants. it's guidance on your terms not ours that's how our system works. e*trade. less for us, more for you.

good morning, everyone, i'm tamron hall, and this is "news nation." we're following developing news, major fireworks in a congressional hearing just a short time ago. a heated exchange between congressional leaders elijah cummings, the democrat, and darrell issa, republican and chairman of that committee. it happened at a hearing about

allegations the irs targeted conservative groups. lois lerner, former irs director, who's been the target of a number of hearings, continued to plead the fifth today, days after issuing an apology for the scandal. >> my counsel has advised me i have not waived my constitutional rights under the fifth amendment and on his advice, i will decline to answer any question on the subject matter of this hearing. >> so you're not going to tell us who wanted to fix the problem caused by citizens united? >> on the advice of my counsel, i exercise my fifth amendment right and decline to answer that question. >> things exploded after that. chairman issa adjourned the hearing less than 15 minutes after it started, before congressman cummings had a chance to ask a question, leading to what you're about to see. take a look. >> i'm going to -- let me say what i have to say. i've listened to you for the last 15 or 20 minutes. let me say what i have